strait-lace

American  

[streyt-leys] / ˈstreɪtˌleɪs /

verb (used with object)

strait-laced, strait-lacing

1. to bind, confine, or restrain with or as if with laces.

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Etymology

Origin of strait-lace

First recorded in 1630–40; back formation from strait-laced

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

strait-laced strait-lacing

In an interview 25 years ago with the German newspaper Tagesspiegel he laid claim to a wilder youth than his strait-laced CV might suggest.

From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2025

In contrast to strait-laced Seattle, where suds stopped flowing at 2 a.m. and never on Sundays, Georgetown’s unregulated taverns, eateries and roadhouses were open round-the-clock, serving laborers the hoppy product of their labors.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 7, 2023

You’ve seen a lot of strait-laced overachievers learn to lighten up and cut loose on-screen.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2023

Both Republican and Democratic politicos and appointees described him as a strait-laced administrator who played it by the book.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 13, 2023

Haupt and Wergin had grown up in "strait-laced families," and this was the greatest adventure of their lives.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

The very pattern of young girls is bound by a strait-lacing conventionality.

From Atlantic Classics, Second Series by Addams, Jane

Depend upon it, it is a fiction created either by papa's hopes or Philip's self-complacency, or else the unfortunate youth must have been brought very low by strait-lacing and milk-and-water.'

From The Heir of Redclyffe by Yonge, Charlotte Mary

Alas! if we may use a homely phrase, many are the victims to strait-lacing, both of stays and conscience!

From The Buccaneer A Tale by Hall, S. C., Mrs.

Such was the strait-lacing in which the good man was forever trying to compress his genial, buoyant, and grateful nature.—Scott came again and again; and Wordsworth and Southey met to do him honor.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 07, No. 43, May, 1861 Creator by Various